Success story

Education of girls is essential in the drive by nations to achieve development goals.

Despite this fact, the girl child is often perceived and treated as inferior and has been socialized to put their needs second after everyone’s thus undermining their self-esteem.

Many girls hardly get the relevant type of education that would make them overcome the social, cultural and health challenges.

As a result many girls end up dropping out of school for a number of reasons. To empower such girls so as to attain knowledge and skills that help them make a change in their life, KMET came up with SFC (Sisterhood For Change) program.

The SFC program empowers girls to attain knowledge and skills that will improve their economic independence and soundness.

The goal of SFC is to increase access to livelihood opportunities and sexual reproductive health information/services to adolescent girls and young women from poor backgrounds. Participants are trained in vocational, reproductive health or life skills besides hairdressing, dress making and food and beverage courses.

For those who wish to enroll and have children; no need to worry because KMET has also established a daycare facility to take care for the little ones as their mothers learn.

SFC works with a range of stakeholders into meeting some of its objectives. These includes the police, Government ministries, local administrators, community leaders, religious leaders, parents whose mandate is to provide ongoing support, guidance, contribute to the growth of the program and feedback to the KMET management on how best to improve quality of services offered at SFC. This forms a committee named the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC).

In addition, KMET offers referral sites on health related matters affecting the adolescent girls at SFC to bring in positive health seeking behavior among the adolescents and young women to reduce the social and structural factors that contribute to HIV vulnerability.

Once the participant is through with Vocational training they are placed in a 3-month internship, where they develop their vocational skills.

Courses Offered.

Food and Beverage (6months)
Hairdressing Beauty Therapy (6months)
Dress making (one year).
The courses run for six months apart from the Tailoring course that runs for one year.

Intake is ongoing. If you wish to enroll please contact:
Jennifer Musuya
Email:j.musuya@kmet.co.ke
Cell: 0719364388
You can also reach us by visiting our website: http://www.kmet.co.ke or follow us on Facebook and twitter.

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Did you know that a rape victim is statistically more likely to get raped again than a female who has never been raped? There’s no common denominator like- job, age or even neighborhood. It’s just that if it happened once, it’s more likely to happen again.

In a 1999 longitudinal study of 3,000 women, researchers found women who had been victimized before were seven times more likely to be raped again.

Vera*(not her real name) had just lost her parents at the age of thirteen and the future seemed so dark. Being the first born, she assumed the role of a parent to her siblings who were still young.

Luckily, she got a job as a house help and now her siblings could find something to eat. Little did she know that hell was about to break loose. One evening while she was going about her duties her employer’s husband raped her and threatened to take away her job if she dared say a thing.

This went on for two years without the wife’s knowledge and when she complained of experiencing pain, this man would only say isebet kitimo chode (you have been prostituting).

One fine morning, her Aunt decided to come for her and take her to school where her children were also studying. Her life had just begun to show some light and there was so much hope for the future, this time round nothing could go wrong.

One day after classes her teacher sent her to clean the chicken house and she went without hesitating, he later asked her to wash the dishes and this was another sad ending as she was raped again! Something she thought would never happen.

She sought for someone to confide in and at that time her uncle was the only one but too bad she was already pregnant and her teacher opted to marry her at seventeen.

Pain from the memories of her previous rapist were fresh in her mind whenever she got intimate with her husband and this went on for two years till she felt she could not take it anymore. Her husband got angry and most times he would leave the house without giving her any money yet she had a baby to take care of.

This was not happening again, this time round she had to be in control, enough of all the pain! She decided to escape and rent her own house with her now two children. Her job was well paying, the only job this sad world had taught her and she did not care what anyone else thought-she was a prostitute!

Her job would end late yet with two young children she had to rush back home at odd hours. One night along the street he met with three men who wanted to gang rape her, she had to think fast.

“I have AIDS”, she yelled. Luckily enough two of the men who could not stand the thought of contracting the disease left and she was left with one who was very persistent. She later managed to escape with the help of a motorist passing by.

“I haven’t shared my story with any one till I came to Kmet to gain basic skills. My teacher has been very supportive and that’s why i decided to open up to her, she counseled me and even gave me a shoulder to cry on .I feel better now, I don’t prostitute any more”. She concluded.

In order to reduce occurrences of SGBV, KMET has come up with Freedom House (rescue center) to help tackle challenges young women face. It aims to educate and empower GBV victims as well as give them the opportunity to indulge, share and overcome experiences of abuse.

Ending the violence starts with you and that is why we encourage everyone to be responsible enough to report the cases at any nearest responsible center.

You can also call us for free on 0800724500 or contact these numbers for help: Child line Kenya-116 and Health Assistance Kenya-1195.

If you wish to contact JOOTRH Gender based Violence Centre Call 07141388868 or beep for medical attention.

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Public funding for healthcare is grossly insufficient and many small private clinics serving much of the population struggle to meet demand and finance badly needed upgrades and facility expansion.
Godswill Medical Centre located in Nyalenda informal settlement, Kisumu City is a small private clinic offering health care services to the underserved population drawn from Milimani and Nyalenda estates.
Since its existence in 2001 the facility has been providing medical services mainly to clients who pay out of pocket.
When it opened its doors the facility offered only curative services. After partnering with KMET in the Medical Credit Fund program they have been able to introduce a number of services among them- youth friendly services, immunization, laboratory care, admission of maternity cases. The centre also provides outpatient services, minor procedures and cervical cancer screening.
Before joining the program the facility only offered basic health care services. Inadequate equipment, poor waste management and improper patient data management characterized the facility.
With time the facility got a new face lift. They enrolled into MCF and accessed 2.5 million shillings loan. This facilitated the purchase of several medical equipment and expansion activities at the centre.

The Medical Credit Fund has a set of standards to rate clinics as the initial step is providing a process for them to improve the quality of care they provide. It also provides a technical assistance program around business skills to provide training on the job, to make sure they have audited financial statements.
This loan helped them move from two rooms to a spacious facility adding a maternity wing, Director’s Office, waiting lounge and consultation room.
It has also benefited from several SafeCare training leading to its graduation from Level 1 to Level 2 during 2014 certification survey.
This means the facility has made step towards institutionalizing the provision of quality healthcare, improved staff attitude through team work.
The gradual expansion and provision of quality services gives it the chance to attain a centre of excellence certification in this new certification phase.

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Jedida(blue tshirt, second right) and her family when we made contact tracing at he house.

Jedida Atieno lives a modest life in Malunga village, Siaya County with her husband and seven children. The grass thatched house is evidently too crowded for the children- the eldest 8 and youngest 4 years old. She and her husband are subsistence farmers.
In 2013, Jedida started feeling unwell a little more often. The persistent cough and night sweat continued even after buying over the counter medication for a while. She still experienced the on and off signs prompting her to seek further medical attention.
In June, she went to Siaya County Hospital where a sputum test turned positive for TB. She was then put on medication which was to run for six months. However, she defaulted having taken her medication for June, July, and August.
She had gone to a funeral and had overstayed for two months failing to take her medication as prescribed.
In December, Jedida gathered courage and went to Ngiya Mission Hospital where a sputum microscopy was done same for HIV test. Both tests turned positive.
She was initiated to second line treatment of TB from the month of December to August 2014. During this period Jedida became pregnant.

When the baby was born she was started on isoniazid prophylaxis for six months to prevent her from getting TB from the mother.
The child kept on getting sick with persistent fever, night sweats and did not respond to Paracetamol. The little girl was frequently admitted to Siaya County Hospital between the months of June and September continuously losing weight.
Luckily in November, a Community Health Worker (TB agent) working in the KMET TB reach program visited Jedida’s house where she revealed her predicament. She told the CHW about the babies’ situation.

When the KMET Tb reach team visited the area the CHW led them to Jedida’s residence. From there they made an assessment for the child recommending contact tracing for the husband and the children. The child was then taken to the paedtrics at Ngiya Mission Hospital where she scored nine above the normal range that is seven on the Paedtrics TB score chart.
She was immediately put on TB treatment. With time her condition has improved, she has gained weight, the fever has subsided and she is now active like any other child at her age.

“Thank you KMET for coming to my aide, my condition is getting better. I would like to advice others they need to adhere to medication so as to fight the disease” Jedida says.

In 2005, its estimated 7.6 per cent of patients in Kenya defaulted from TB treatment.

On the month of November while on routine supervisory visit in one of the Huduma Poa franchise facilitates in Trans-Nzoia County, I met Levy a 3 year old who was extremely malnourished.

His eyes were clear and full of life, only that his body betrayed the look in his eyes. He was frail and only weighed 7 kilograms. A child Levy’s age should be weigh 11 to 12 kilograms.
This day he was feeling unwell and had been brought to Seed of Hope Clinic for treatment by the mother.
The mother is a 22 year old housewife with two children; the first born being Levy and last born a 3 month old girl.
Finah and her husband live a modest life in a small center off Kitale town. The two dropped out of primary school and have no steady source of income. At times the husband works as a grounds man in the clinic compound.
The income he earns is insufficient to take care of his family’s basic needs he says. Their meals are mainly composed of ugali made of maize flour and kales; sometimes they take a mixture of beans and maize and Levy grew up taking lots of maize flour porridge for meals.
The boy was severely malnourished, which led to delayed milestones and stunted growth. He looked like a 6 month old child and when I talked to the mother to inquire about the possible causes of her child’s condition she said: “Nimejaribu kumlisha lakini sioni mabadiliko.” (I have tried to feed him but his condition has not improved).
After a lengthy conversation with Finah, she saw the need to call her husband who came from home and joined us in a health talk. I talked to the couple regarding nutrition and family planning in relation to quality of life since they were not on any contraceptive.
The husband was enthusiastic about the idea of contraception and encouraged the wife to start using any method of family planning but Finah said she would think about it. She felt that the health of her the boy was more of a priority this day.
Levy was referred to Namanjalala Health Centre for further management which comprises of nutritional counselling and food offered by prescription to the child.
After a month, Finah came back to the clinic a happy woman thanking the provider for the health messages we shared. She reported that the boy had improved and was in good health. She was ready to take up a contraceptive method and settled on a 3 year Implanon.

She was hopeful that her 3 months old baby will not be malnourished like the first born.
In the view of health workers, the primary cause of malnutrition is poor feeding, especially at the time of weaning and up to the age of five years.
Even though efforts are made to teach mothers the principles of a balanced diet and the importance of suitable weaning foods given frequently during the day, the ability of parents to provide the right nutrition plays a major role in managing malnutrition and emphasizing family planning as a way of spacing birth and controlling child birth to a number a couple can manage will come a long way in improving quality of lives.
The key to sustaining this momentum lies in the health education and mobilization forums that give the clients an opportunity to share their fears, myths, misconceptions and experiences about family planning and cervical cancer screening.By Beatrice AmayoQuality Assurance Officer, KMET

“Three years ago, Kenya was ranked the fourth country with the highest HIV epidemic in the world. Although HIV prevalence among the general population has fallen in Kenya, women continue to be disproportionately affected by the epidemic.

Homa Bay County where I work as a Demand Creation Officer records the highest HIV incidence rate in the country with a prevalence rate of 27.1 percent compared to the national average of 5.6 percent according to the 2012 Kenya Aids Indicator Survey Report (KAIS).

The survey also indicates that 6.9 percent of women were living with HIV compared with 4.2 percent of men. With these facts in mind, most health interventions in the county therefore focus on reducing the prevalence rate.

Located in Ndhiwa Sub County, approximately 45 kilometers from Homa bay town is Osani Community Health Centre which is one of the health facilities in the County that offer comprehensive care to HIV clients.

Client queue to receive health services at Osani Community Hospital

Being a member of the Huduma Poa social franchise some of the other core services offered at the facility include family planning; HIV Testing and Counseling; and Prevention of Mother to Child transmission of HIV.

The nurse in charge of the facility acknowledges that since they joined the franchise in 2012, clients accessing family planning services have been on a steady rise which she attributed to the Huduma Poa event days.

Despite the gains, there had been a forgotten group in provision of family planning and cervical cancer screening services. Initially the facility attended to HIV positive client who are on care and treatment without any deliberate attempt to directly involve them in the activities of the event days.

Conversely during the last quarter (October –December, 2014), clients from the HIV care and treatment centre were involved in the event days that were held in the facility. The change of tact resulted to more women who are aware of their HIV status receiving implants and other contraceptives as well as cervical cancer screening.

As we get into a new year we purpose to strengthen the ‘Supermarket approach’ so that HIV care and treatment and reproductive and child health services are not seen as independent services in the facilities but mutually inter-dependent. Going by the lessons of the last quarter, attempts to deliberately target known positives should be scaled up.

This will be in tandem with Kenya Aids Indicator Survey Report (2012) which recommends that, efforts should be directed at further reducing the unmet need for family planning, with a focus on HIV-infected women and that there is need to scale up cervical cancer screening in women of reproductive age— among both HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected.

By Joshua Adhola, Demand Creation Officer, KMET

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She wakes up very early in the morning to prepare breakfast for the seven children she lives with in her house at one of Kisumu’s informal settlements. She then kneads dough that she will later on use to make chapatti by the roadside.
Rose a 38 year old single mother lives in Nyawita where she cooks and sells chapatti for a living. The mother of two; eldest child 10 and the youngest 2years, is also HIV positive and shares the predicament of most slum dwellers in terms of housing.
Rose’ house is nothing different from most of the houses in her neighborhood, it’s not only modestly limited in space but has neither windows nor ventilation. Rose is a mother of two but lives with four of her elder sister’s children together with a younger sister who also has a child.
In the year 2006, Rose was diagnosed with TB after she could not bear a persistent cough and tremendous weight loss despite using antibiotics that was prescribed for her in a pharmacy.
She dutifully took her medication for eight months and recovered.
Eight years down the line, she was spotted at the roadside where she cooks chapatti by a KMET community health worker (TB Agent), Damaris Akinyi, who had noted that Rose had been coughing for a while.
Damaris booked a date with her and together with KMET’s TB Reach Programme Officer, Adriano Ngaywa’’, they paid her a visit in her home.
Rose and her younger sister were given a health talk, screened and they happened to present TB symptoms like chest pains, sweating at night and coughing.
They were referred to KMET’s Corkran clinic for further lab tests where Rose was once again found to be TB positive and immediately initiated into medication. Her sister on the other hand was negative.
Given the nature of their house and the number of occupants, the children were at high risk of getting infected hence they were later screened too and fortunately they were TB negative.
Rose say she is not ignorant about the importance of proper aeration in TB prevention and her only plea is to the landlords of the slum houses to install windows since even if she wanted to, she cannot afford well built houses. Adriano says the area is considered a key population since statistics show that majority of the residents are HIV positive weakening their immune system hence making them susceptible to TB infection.
In the subsequent quarter, KMET has planned to carry out outreaches in the area and other informal settlements within the city to give TB health talks, screening and collect sputum samples from door to door.
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